Book Title: Deathless
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Date Started: September 5th 2019
Date Completed: September 23rd 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars
Final Rating: Three Stars
Review:
Well, this was a massive disappointment after all the hype. There are some moments that feel perfectly out of a fairytale but, like a short story collection, they're few and far between and after looking forward to this for a couple of years at this point, I wanted a lot more.
Okay, I get that Deathless is supposed to be dark - awesome! Dark fairy tales are the best, they delve into the morality of the world, they shed light on the context in which it's written, they exaggerate the heights of bravery their heroes eventually achieve. But dark in this book is abusive and sexist, but it's written to be alluring and seductive. The idea of triumphing over it is there, but its thrown aside again and again. I get that the whole thing is a metaphor for Stalinist Russia, the revolution, and various historical events in the country's history (I'm sure if you're very familiar with the history, names and events will match up more obviously), and that's really cool. But Deathless is too on the fence about how it wants to explore that. You can have magical realism, exploring the history with fantastical symbols and landscapes where you aren't quite sure what's real and what isn't, or you can have pure fantasy set in a historical context and influenced by its events and politics - but this book tries to create a middle ground that doesn't work. It makes things confusing and frustrating and still isn't an excuse to make the abusive darkness appropriate to present as enticing in the way that it does.
Past the historical influences, Deathless is like the traditional epic fairy- and folk tales that combine lots of little stories into one. These weave together and supply characters with solutions or tools that will help them later on. Which kind of happens. But it didn't feel like things paid off that satisfyingly. Again, there's a strong thread of doom running through the book because of its inspiration, but even so things didn't feel like they really slotted into place - they felt separate like individual stories.
Last, but not least, is the fact that it's hard to get on with a story when you don't like the main character or feel connected to anyone else. Even more so with a story that is so intrinsically about the main character's change of heart over and over again. I understand that Marya isn't supposed to be likeable, and that's totally fine, but I wasn't rooting for her either and that's a problem.
I kept pushing through with Deathless because I wanted it to impress me, I wanted to be proven wrong, I wanted to love it. But when I reached the end, I thought... what was the point? It pretty much just ends, no climax, no twist, no tragic end even. Disappointed isn't even the right word, but it's the closest I've got.
